3 of the Biggest Fictional Casino Wins From the Movies

Published on February 3, 2014

Almost invariably, whenever a casino features in a movie scene, there’s bound to be a spectacular win involved, much like the potential of winning big money via online casino instant play. Though those wins aren’t always credible, they’re great for keeping the audience’s attention riveted to the screen to see what’s going to happen next.

With that in mind we decided to take a closer look at some of the most famous big screen movie scenes involving the biggest fictional casino wins. Without any further ado:

The Texas Hold’em Scene in Casino Royale

One of the most tense casino scenes in recent memory is where Daniel Craig, in his debut performance as James Bond in Casino Royale, plays Texas Hold’em poker against the villain ‘Le Chiffre’. Through the years, movies have portrayed Bond much more as a baccarat player, but in Casino Royale he switches to playing a little Texas Hold’em, which resonates well with modern moviegoers.

Le Chiffre has set up a private, exclusive high-stakes Texas Hold’em game in order to try and win back money he lost to Bond earlier in the movie. MI6 enters Bond in the tournament at the Casino Royale in Montenegro. His aim is to beat Le Chiffre, bankrupt him, and then convince him to work for MI6.

British Treasury agent Vesper Lynd meets Bond on the train to Montenegro and provides him with the required $10 million to buy in to the game. When Bond loses the stake, Vesper won’t advance him the $5m required for a re-buy. To the rescue comes CIA agent Felix Leiter, who offers Bond the money in exchange for custody of Le Chiffre (should he win).

Bond begins to play well and manages to build his stack, as well as survive Le Chiffre’s girlfriend Velenka’s attempt to poison his drink along the way (always a bit of a distraction for any serious poker player).

By the final hand, the pot has ballooned to over $100 million. Of course, Bond wins the pot with a straight flush (4 through 8 of spades inclusive) beating Le Chiffre’s “measly” full house.

The Magnetron Scene in Ocean’s 13

Although it’s something that stretches into the realms of fantasy, the casino scene in Ocean’s 13 where Brad Pitt and George Clooney use magnetron devices disguised as lighters is one of the more exciting, enjoyable movie casino scenes ever produced.

Ocean’s team have planned to make a $500 million hit at the casino machines and table games using magnetron devices that jam the three casino security system for a three minute period and allow them to control the outcome of the casino games. The chaos that ensues over those three minutes is astounding to behold – as is the haul of Ocean’s crew in such a brief amount of time.

Card Counting in Rain Man

Blackjack has featured in a number of top movie casino scenes. Never was the game more memorable than in casino scenes depicted in the 1988 Best Picture-winning flick Rain Man.
In this movie, Tom Cruise plays the brother of an autistic savant played by Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman’s character has a photographic memory, which Cruise realizes could be used to count cards while playing blackjack at a Las Vegas casino.

Part of the excitement of this casino scene is the preparations the two brothers make before heading out to win big money. They get new suits and haircuts and in an iconic cinema moment, descend the escalators into the belly of the casino. Hoffman’s character, Raymond, is bemused and overwhelmed by all the buzzing, flashing, and general noise of the casino, and completely unfazed by the fact that he is winning big money using his card counting skills. Meanwhile, Charlie can’t believe their good fortune as the chips keep on piling up in front of them. Yet, the brothers are being watched by security via the ‘eye in the sky’ who are confounded by what they’re seeing. “You know there’s no-one in the world who can count up a six deck shoe,” one of the officers exclaims at some point.

The entire casino win escapade makes for priceless cinema and compares favourably to any other movie casino scenes.

Other Examples of Big Fictional Casino Wins

The above-discussed scenes from Casino Royale, Ocean’s 13, and Rain Man are just 3 premier examples of big time movie casino wins. Plenty of other blockbuster films depict the main characters playing and winning in casinos.